𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍 | the 100

38 | Good Old Times

"But I've changed too, Amber."

‧ ✩ ｡ ✭ ° ☆ ･ _______ ･ ☆ ° ✭ ｡ ✩ ‧

"Don't forget to look up, the Grounders use the trees." Bellamy's voice rises above the scattered conversations of the group as they trek through the woods, prompting the guards to glance at the leafed crowns above.

The backs of Griffin and Clarke break the glare Amber has held on the blonde buzz cut ahead, and her eyes shift as well. When Raven told her that Mount Weather is jamming the radio signals, Amber had been excited about a chance to be useful again and immediately demanded to join the team to scout for a radio tower. Then Noah, fitted in black, joined the team with a few other guards. She hasn't been able to think about anything but the assault rifle in his hands since.

"I'll never get used to this," Elias says at her side, his calm voice sweeping its way into her mind. Her worries suddenly silenced, she smiles when she sees how his face has softened with awe at the trees around them. This must be what she had looked like when she saw the Ground for the first time—an open-mouthed idiot. But she can't deny that the innocent joy is slightly adorable.

"Please don't," she tells him when she follows his example and takes in their surroundings. The forest is still as green as when she first laid eyes on it, a world of color and life, and despite the rich smell of pine and leaves, the air is crisper than the generated oxygen on the Ark could ever be. "I've gotten so used to worrying about Grounders that I've almost forgotten there are still flowers."

"Let me remind you then."

Without breaking his stride, Elias bends toward the ground, before turning back to her with a purple flower between his fingers. Her heart skips. Before she can stumble over awkward words in search of an appropriate response, he takes her hand and gently places the flower in her palm, its petals so dainty that her skin barely registers their touch.

Her neck turns and she looks behind her shoulder, attention drawn to Murphy against her own will. Their eyes meet like a match and a fuse, and when she finally realizes her mistake, her heart has already been scorched by the flames she had just managed to dampen.

Chest contracted in pain, her words are clipped when her eyes escape back to Elias. "Thank you."

"No need." His smile is the night air after turning away from the swelter of a fire. "You easily could have picked it yourself."

They continue to walk in comforted silence. Screw Murphy. He can stare all he wants, but that doesn't mean she has to acknowledge him. With a little patience, he'll grow bored and give up on her, just like the older criminals did in the Skybox when she was too broken to give them the reaction they wanted. If she can survive them, she can survive him.

When they finally spot Mount Weather's radio tower in the distance, they decide to set camp, not wanting to risk stumbling over traps when night comes. Once Griffin realizes that the Blake siblings have left the group to find another way into the mountain, tensions rise as Finn is stopped from accompanying the guards she dispatches to retrieve them.

"What do you think I'm gonna do?" he snaps at Raven and storms off, ignoring Clarke's call for him to stay.

"I'll go get him," she says, and soon only half of the original group that set out the same morning remain.

Amber stays close, but wanders at the edge of the forest in search of kindling while the tents are set up, humming to herself. Finn should have been given an official punishment for what happened at the village, even an arrest would be better than the punishment he's been given now—silent judgement.